Jared Isaacman: A New Era for NASA and American Space Exploration

0:00 Ignition sequence start all engines up. >> It's good to have an aviator and astronaut in charge. Jared Eisen, >> the new NASA administrator. >> NASA's still hot. Humankind will not be contained to planet Earth indefinitely. In the next giant leap capabilities, that's nuclear power and propulsion. That's what extends America's reach farther into the solar system. That's what guarantees the third race will never be in question. Please welcome Jared Isaacman.

0:42 Good morning everyone. It is an absolute honor to be here at Allin. We are living through an extraordinary moment in history, aren't we? It took just 65 years from Orville and Wilbur's first flight to Neil and Buzz walking on the surface of the moon. Now, it's been 57 years since Apollo 11. And for a while there, pace of progress hasn't been all that inspiring, but look at what is on the horizon right now. We got artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, robotics, additive manufacturing, the promise of fusion energy, biotech to heal the disabled, autonomous transportation, this whole abundance thing everyone's talking about, all converging in the years ahead is beyond what most people can comprehend. Our world will fundamentally change. how we live, how we work, how we fight wars, how we reach out and touch the stars.

1:42 But we are not alone on this journey. We are living through a great power competition. Other nations understand the opportunities that can elevate nations and change civilizations. And perhaps nowhere are the possibilities, the competition, and the consequences of getting it wrong more apparent than in the ultimate high ground above us. Now at NASA, we are doing things differently and we are regaining our swagger and putting wins on the board. But absent this president, absent this geopolitical competition and the very real possibility of losing the second space race, I suspect very little would have changed. For too long, resources at the world's most accomplished space agency were spread everywhere, trying to make everyone happy. Much of it was through external imposition, but plenty of it was self-inflicted. We partnered for the sake of partnerships, oftent times becoming a drag on the mission instead of accelerating it. As a result, we have the Orion spacecraft that we can't inject into low lunar orbit like we did during Apollo. And the prior administration cancelled the Mars sample return mission that was on track to cost more than an aircraft carrier. We created programs that were too big to fail fail, too costly to truly succeed in the hope that they would survive administrations. The results being a rocket that was designed when China was predominantly operating coal fired locomotives and now becoming operational as China operates 25,000 mi of highspeed rail and is just a few years away from their own Apollo 11 like moment. core competencies and tens of thousands of the NASA workforce were rented, outsourced, or lost, which turned what should have been months worth of progress into years at tremendously greater cost. Eventually, too little was left to do things the right way. The way NASA showed the world how to do it in decades past. So, we invented this whole dream state as a service thing, forgoing the playbook of success and shifting the impossible burden onto others.

3:51 The result is that our moon rocket is in fact less efficient than Saturn 5 at converting launch mass into payload head payload headed for the moon with more time between the Aremis 1 and Artemis 2 mission than all 12 of the Geminy missions that were flown 60 years before. A lunar space station that whenever it may have been delivered put our astronauts in a position to look down on the most desirable lunar real estate instead of operating on the surface and occupying it. one XPlane that wasn't flying very much and billions spent on failed nuclear programs that had not left the laboratory since 1965.

4:30 Now, during the first space race, we were slow out of the gate, but NASA ultimately ran up the score. The second will be much closer than it ever needed to be. Since becoming the administrator of LA NASA last year, we have made a different choice. We are not going to try and make everyone happy. we are not going to spread every penny across every district or partner with every nation just to try and make everyone happy or because that's how people incorrectly believed it always was. I am certainly not here for the money to favor companies for the title, the notoriety, the politics. I'm not here to be your VC to entertain your dream or invent new markets if it detracts in the slightest way from the missions that we have been entrusted to achieve on behalf of the American people. You can take those conversations up with the Department of Commerce if you like. I'm here to execute on President Trump's national space policy to align and focus resources to work alongside and unleash this best the best this nation has to offer. From the NASA workforce to our industry to our partners and deliver the world changing outcomes. The kind of outcomes that put Neil and Buzz on the moon. The kind of outcomes that inspired many of you to be in this room in the first place. This is a very reinvigorated and energized NASA and America is back in the business of sending our astronauts to the moon.

5:59 Now, Artemis 2 was just the beginning. Those four heroic astronauts, recent recipients of the Congressional Space Medal of Honor, rode 8.8 8 million pounds of thrust to near Earth escape velocities, traveled farther into space than any humans in history around the moon and back home safely. And that was just the opening act. We are not waiting 3 years to fly again. We are not turning every rocket into a work of art. Artemis 3 is already being assembled right now at a pace many doubted was possible just months ago. Before year end, we intend to roll out to launch complex 39B for a tanking test and send a message to our workforce, our industry, and our rivals overseas. NASA is back and we are not going to sit idly by. We are not just a procurement organization. We are going to do the extremely demanding work and achieve our objectives safely, responsibly, and urgently because that is what meeting the moment requires.

6:55 Now, in the summer of 2027, Artemis 3 will launch on SLS into low Earth orbit and rendevous with lander test vehicles from Blue Origin and SpaceX in what will be a remarkable display of the three most powerful rockets and spacecraft in the world. We will test interoperability and show what a future multilaunch campaign can actually look like. What we learn will inform the uncrrewed test landings that follow. and then Artemis 4 in 2028 when American astronauts return to the lunar surface and this time to stay. In parallel in parallel we are establishing humanity's first outpost on another world, a moon base. And this time we are leveraging the NASA playbook of decades past. We are not jumping directly to the dream state. We will launch missions on a near monthly cadence and undertake the science of survival. That means autonomous and crude mobility, surface improvement, institute resource util utilization and manufacturing, logistics, habitability, power, communications, and all the science instruments the mass budget affords. We will bring it to you live and HD on the moonbased website. And we will leave no doubters this time. We go for the scientific and the economic potential.

8:14 we go to learn about the formation of our solar system, but primarily because the lunar south pole, where the water ice is, is going to be the technological proving ground for where we inevitably go next, which is Mars. In 2028, in 2028, NASA will leave decades and billions of dollars of failed nuclear programs behind and launch SR1 Freedom, a 100 kilowatt fision reactor that will finally get America underway on nuclear power. The mission will transit Mars and release Skyfall, which carries three Ingenuity class helicopters and using ground penetrating radar to scout subsurface ice and future landing sites.

8:56 This will mark the beginning of the nuclear NASA, pivoting our workforce and facilities back to doing the near impossible. Missions with no obvious business case, what no company, no agency or nation is presently capable of accomplishing, but but that extend humanity's reach farther into the outer solar system. And just during like just like during the Apollo era, the technology that we pioneer to get there will surely benefit life back here at home. There will be lots of nuclear missions. SR2, SR3, SR4. Alongside our industry partners, we will push the boundaries of high temperature materials, more efficient power conversion, more reduced radiator mass, and higher performance electric propulsion as we visit some of the most interesting moons like Enceladus, Europa, and Titan. These are worlds with oceans, with complex chemistry, and perhaps the ingredients for life. a reminder that some of the greatest discoveries in human history, they may be waiting for us in our own backyard.

9:55 We could answer the question, are we alone? And are we alone even in our own solar system, let alone the galaxy and universe around us? Someday, a chemically augmented nuclearpowered transfer vehicle, part of an American starfleet, supported by a armada of starships and other spacecraft, will carry humans to the surface of Mars and bring them home safely to tell us about it. And not just once. We are on this great destiny of human exploration, and we are not turning back. Along the way, we are going to do the other things.

10:27 Commercial satellites are being printed off at a rate that will help us affordably understand the only planet that we presently inhabit, our home star and space weather, and better predict weather and perhaps respond to to wildfires and natural disasters better, freeing up more resources to build the exquisite flagship science missions that only NASA can undertake. Like, for example, the nuclearpowered Dragonfly Octter. It's powered by a 2 kilowatt MMRTG, converting to just 100 watts of electricity, barely better than an old light bulb, but it will journey to Saturn's moon of Titan in 2028. Europa Clipper will arrive at Jupiter's icy moon in 2030.

11:07 And our great space telescopes like James Webb and Hubble will soon be joined by Roman. And with her nearly 300 megapixel widefield instrument and JPL built coronagraph, in the moments ahead, Roman will open her eyes. And in that instance, she will see more of the universe than any scientific instrument we've ever put in space before. Her surveys will seek to it is a cool telescope. Her surveys will seek to understand the mysteries of dark energy and dark matter and reveal tens of thousands of worlds that are hidden behind in distant stars.

11:46 Roman will return images so large and in such detail there is no screen on Earth large enough to display them. Now other missions like Neo Surveyor will find asteroids and comets that can threaten Earth. While next generation telescopes in development will seek out habitable planets orbiting other stars. The last few decades have shown us that the future in space that we all imagined as children will never be realized if they're perpetually funded by taxpayers. NASA will do everything within reason to support an orbital and perhaps even lunar economy someday, building on the proven markets of launch, observation, and communication. Whether the next frontier is in orbital data centers or commercial space stations or on orbit manufacturing, regulith resource extraction, asteroid mining, or industries that none of us have even imagined yet. Now, it's not NASA's job to force an economy, but we will do all we can to ignite one as we pursue our missions. And in the service of the first A and NASA, we are rebuilding our XPlane fleet. The X59 is researching quiet supersonic flight. But it's just the beginning as NASA recommmits to flight test and works alongside industry to push the boundaries of airframe and propulsion design. It will not be long before NASA is flying once again as high and as fast as we have from decades past. and then even more.

13:07 But if this frontier is going to expand as rapidly as we believe it will be, we will have to cultivate the talent to lead it, the space domain deserves an institution focused on that future and call it what many already have and should, a Starfleet Academy. That is why the president established the commission for the United States Space Academy, a NASA federal academy to prepare the next generation of astronauts, scientists, engineers, technicians, operators, pilots, and leaders. And just as the need for space force became clear as the domain evolved, we should be equally forward-looking and preparing those who will build the moon base, operate nuclearpowered spacecraft, command missions to Mars, ensure our national security, and create industries in orbit we can barely imagine today.

13:52 And there is no time to waste. I want you all to think about where you were when Artemis 2 astronauts sent back those images from the moon. Who did it touch? your parents, your friends, your colleagues, your children. Now, I want you to imagine astronauts climbing down the ladder. Only this time, it is not grainy black and white footage from July 20th, 1969. It's highdefinition color streaming live to billions of people all around the world. The astronaut steps foot on the lunar surface. The camera pans up and the flag on the spacuit is not American. There will be no footnote explaining that we spent more. No disclaimer that our architecture was complicated. No one will care how many studies we completed, how many meetings we held, what congressional districts benefited, who all the all-star lobbyists were for their hardware, who served on the committee, or how many times we slipped the schedule for what someone thought was a perfectly reasonable reason. The world will just see who got there. China intends to put their astronauts on the moon by 2030.

14:56 Its robotic missions are targeting the Shackleton crater of the lunar south pole next year and there are only so many good parking spots in that neighborhood and they intend to occupy them. They are working with Russia on their own nuclearpowered moon base. And to be clear, China will accomplish what the Soviets never could during the first space race. They have a very achievable two launch architecture, the national will and capabilities to put their astronauts on the surface of the moon.

15:22 And if America has not returned despite the decades of promises and the more than 100 billion invested, the shock wave will be felt around the world. Our allies will notice. Our adversaries will notice. Every nation deciding whose technology to buy, whose standards to adopt, whose security guarantees to trust, and whose vision of the future will to follow will take notice. And perhaps most importantly, our children will notice. That is why we must remain focused on the objectives that matter.

15:52 Why NASA was established in the first place. There is no time anymore for lobbying against America's interests or further tolerating the status quo. Only extreme ownership, competence, and action. Those of us inspired by the pioneers and heroes of decades past know they set the bar high. But we do not honor them by living forever on what they accomplished. This is our time to pick up where they left off, return, and never give up the moon again, and then set our sights on Mars and beyond. And none of this will be accomplished by NASA alone. We have the support of President Trump. We have Congress. We have a clear mandate in the national space policy. But it will take brilliant entrepreneurs, scientists, engineers, our allies, and Americans across the country who still believe that great nations can do great things. because our children will either inherit the confidence of a nation still capable of the extraordinary or the memory of one that used to be. That responsibility, that choice belongs to all of us. And I believe when history looks back on this moment, let it record that America did not hesitate any longer. We did not allow the bureaucracy, the complacency, the waste, inaction, or fear of failure to constrain what we could accomplish.

17:08 We chose to go and we went. Thank you. All right, let's go. Let's go. All right, everybody. >> America. Good job. Good job. >> Where do you want me? Oh, right on the I was commenting backstage on how easy it is for NASA to come and do speeches given the content the the capacity to show visuals like this. Can you imagine like housing and urban development trying to do a presentation?

17:49 >> No, we have we have unbelievable material to work with. I'm thankful every day that I I don't lead the IRS or social >> Yeah. Right. Can we can we talk about we don't have a lot of time so I I I know I want to move our way through the universe but can we start with the moon what is is there a you know there's kind of this case that NASA makes about the new the moon being the starting point for getting to Mars but is the moon a potentially viable economy on its own? Is there an industry to be built on the moon? Is there an ongoing set of operations that could be established on the moon that make sense beyond just kind of testing equipment before we go to Mars?

18:31 >> Yeah, maybe. Right. So, I think we are extremely fortunate. We've been gifted a moon 3 days away to test out everything we need on this great adventure of discovery, right? I mean, this is where you want to go to really dial in power. Your spac suits. It's taken us decades to build replacement spac suits from the Apollo era. Let's test that out on the moon. habitation modules certainly insitue resource manufacturing robotics right I mean you know look EVAs are fantastic astronauts bouncing around on the moon is going to be highly inspirational that's like one of the last things you should do when you have a moon base is send somebody outside in that extremely dangerous environment let robotics do it and in order to accomplish all of this you have to send an extraordinary demand signal to industry I mean over the next four years we're talking dozens of landers dozens of rovers lots of insitue resource manufacturing experimentation you're giving industry all the opportunity in the world to figure out how to unlock value from the lunar regalith, right? But I can't guarantee it, right? And that's my point on the Department of Commerce. They have a, you know, a whole space commerce office that can can work through that.

19:30 I'm I am going to make sure that NASA, you know, can master the skills necessary to go to Mars for its scientific potential. We'll put radio telescopes on the far side to inspire the next generation. And if along the way it ignites a lunar economy, that's fantastic. But it costs an awful lot to get there. An awful lot to extract resources. >> Sorry, one sec. But and then we have to map the South Pole to figure out where we're going. Is that right? And that's part of this promise mission. That's kind of the next big mission for the moon.

19:55 >> So I'm glad you brought up promise. so we we have mapped the lunar south pole. There are only so many good landing spots. And what do I mean by that? I mean surface area of the moon is like the size of Africa. The south pole of the moon is like Washington DC. And there's only so many good craters that have these permanently shaded regions, which by the way, I mean, that is a harsher environment than Mars itself.

20:15 That's where the water ice is. But the crater cliffs can also give you near eternal access to light for solar power. So there's only so many good landing spots. And you think about when like a vehicle the size of Starship comes down lunar surface. Believe me, that's going to blast out a little bit of craters, send debris. So really limited parking spots on that. Promise is very awesome because Promise is a radioisotope powered rover that we built as a spare essentially for the two rovers Perseverance and Curiosity are on on on on the on Mars right now. And just to give you a sense, this thing is the size of like a jeep. Okay, so we have some PU238 that's decaying right now. You only get so much life out of it. We want to take that, put it on promise, and send it to the moon. and it can go in and start prospecting in those permanently shaded regions that I mean almost any other hardware would die in.

21:03 It's a very good way to make use of taxpayer dollars that have largely already been spent. >> And Jared, you were informing me last night, informing me last night and educating me on this specific southern region of the of the moon being absolutely critical for us to get to first versus China. Why is it so critical that we get there before China? and what's it going to take to do that? And just as a followup to that, what was the state of NASA when you got there?

21:32 Because it did feel like they since the space shuttle program haven't been super focused or effective, but correct me if I'm wrong. >> Yeah. I mean, just to be clear, you're you're talking about some of the best best talent in this nation shows up to work at NASA every day, and they want to change the world in air and space. And for a very long time, everybody was trying to run NASA other than the people themselves that show up to work there. I mean, like I you heard from my remarks, you know, let's make everyone happy.

21:58 Let's spread our resources to every congressional district. Let's collect 25 different flags to partner on the next mission that takes something that should cost a couple billion, which is very cool. Like going and getting samples back from Mars that could lead to the most consequential discovery in human history, and layer a bunch of other people on and make it cost more than a carrier, and then it then it gets canceled, right? So NASA's back in charge now, right? We are in a space race. People are giving us the latitude to to do what we need to do. And as a result, we are extremely focused on the president's national space policy.

22:27 Return to the moon, build a base, get underway in nuclear power and the other things. And the workforce is responding well. And I'm I'm grateful alongside them. So we are in a different state today. Unfortunately, we don't have the time necessarily we'd like because years were lost in this now new space race. Now, the south pole of the moon, again, we've been gifted a moon 3 days away to again master those skills to go to Mars. There's only so many good sparking spots. The Chinese and the Russians know that, right? They they were going to launch a mission a couple weeks ago right to the Shackleton Ridge.

22:56 which, you know, maybe it was mechanical, maybe it was weather related, or maybe they were smart enough to know that if they actually did do it, it probably would ignite one hell of a a fire and urgency in us. but that would have taken up one of like a couple critical parking spots. They're going to build a base there. They've partnered with Russia. They're going to have a fision power fision reactor there. And they're going to do the exact same things we are, which is interact with the water ice and get very good. And then where are they going next? The third space race. They're going to go to Mars. And then they'll have that massive Neil Armstrong like moment that will send a message around the world. And we are very committed to not letting that happen.

23:30 >> What is the big technological leap that you have to make from the current course in speed to actually make Mars more realistic? Is it is it propulsion and thrust is the main vector? >> So I I think there's a I think there's a a couple things there. Look, robotics are going to be critical in all of this. So if you if you chose a path that was purely like chemical propulsion of which you know vehicles like Starship are going to be incredible at that.

23:58 Well, you will no doubt have the means to send astronauts to Mars. they they've already figured out habitability a long time ago and you're talking very comparable velocities whether you're going to the to the moon or Mars in that regard. The hard part is how do you come back right? You're going to need to make propellant on Mars to do so and you know one solution to that to say is well I'll have an army of robots that'll do it and I'll have football field size you know solar panels and then the robots can dust them off from all the the dust storms that'll happen and then you'll make your own propellant you'll come home. The hard part is it's really it's really challenging to do that under one atmosphere and 1G here on Earth. I mean you can see how many people show up at like stage zero at you know at Starbase to launch a mission or and by the way that is the right right way to kind of win the war to put lots of mass on the surface. NASA can help that by kind of pivoting by stop doing what what industry is already doing really well and invest in that next giant leap capabilities that have no obvious you know business use case today which is fision power and then you can have chemically augmented NEP spaceships transfer vehicles and go to and from Mars and you don't need to refuel them until they come back and what you're refilling is krypton or xenon. You're not having to make propellant on the surface of of of Mars. That to me is how NASA works alongside industry to invest in the capabilities that are necessary for American leadership in space. And by the way, those are the capabilities you want to go to like Saturn's moon of Enceladus, to go to Titan, to go to Europa where you have you have oceans on two of those moons that that could have still life in them.

25:31 We don't know. How do you convince these incredible learned people to work for NASA versus SpaceX or other private space companies now in a world where there's so many ways in which you can contribute? >> So, so, so great. I'm I'm glad you asked that because it's a double down on nuclear, but it's right now we don't have a a recruiting problem initially. I mean, we take 1% of the intern applications that go into our pathway program which guarantee him a job at NASA. Then the question is, can you retain them? And if you're doing exactly what SpaceX, Blue, Rocket Lab, Stoke, ULA, and others are doing in industry, except you're doing it off, you know, you know, 50-y old shuttle hardware that again is not as efficient from for missions like going to the moon as Saturn 5 was, you're going to lose that workforce. So, what do you need to do?

26:17 You know when we have those near impossible breakthroughs and there is a business case like there certainly is for launch where you can be one customer many you hand it off to industry and you pivot and that's how you retain talent that can only do these type of missions at NASA which is the nuclear NASA SR1 is just the beginning that is our Nautilus there will be a grand fleet of nuclearpowered on the frontier essentially you need to constantly keep pivoting to the next new thing in the >> can you explain just just really briefly a primer on how nuclear works for generating thrust >> yeah sure so actually you And just think of a lot of the like say Starlink satellites that you'd have up right now that use you hauler ion thrusters right now. They're generating electricity through solar power and then they're using through electromagnetic forces. They're they're they're ionizing either krypton or xenon and and then just basically accelerating it out of the thruster which gives you very very high you know exhaust velocity. So it's extremely efficient, very low thrust and you can use that propellant for a very long time. And and in space, the faster the molecule shoots out the back, the more thrust it generates for the for the craft to move forward.

27:21 >> Yeah. I mean, it's just very low mass that you're actually it's very low mass flow, but highly efficient, right? So very very efficient, high you know, exhaust velocities. The idea though is where that breaks down is the farther you get away from the sun. So once you get out towards Jupiter, I mean, solar effectiveness is is negligible, right? So what you're using is like a a a the thermal energy from a a nuclear reactor. So 100 kows will scale it up to 250 who knows maybe megawatt class, right? You're going to want to run that reactor as hot as you possibly can. So that's your high temperature materials and then you're going to convert it through like a a closed braen cycle power conversion unit into electricity and that electricity is then going to power those same thrusters that you would see on Starlinks. It's just they're scaled up, right? They're like 12 kow, then 14 kilow, 25 kow thrusters.

28:06 >> What is NASA's budget and if you could have your brothers, what would it be? I'm incredibly supportive of look I've said it I've said it many times right now like NASA does not have a topline problem like we are bad capital allocators and have been for a long time and a lot of that is based on NASA choices it's based on what other people forced us to do and that's changed we have $25 billion I mean there's got how many how many entrepreneurs are in this room starv 25 billion is a lot of money you can build some pretty incredible hardware you're one of the few entrepreneurs that actually has built a profitable company and taken it You showed a picture of the blackbird up there. And >> you sure that's a blackbird?

28:44 >> Well, okay. what was that picture that you showed up there? >> Like I said, NASA's getting back in the business flying high and fast again. >> I mean, that doesn't seem like a space vehicle. It seems like a earth air vehicle. >> Yeah. So, the first A in NASA is our is our aeronautics portfolio. And what we've contributed to over the decades, you may not realize this. Look, when you go see an F-22 fly at an air show and wow you, the flybywire technology was us. The the, you know, thrust vectoring technology was us. NASA's been contributing to breakthroughs in aeronautics, both civil, commercial, and national security applications for a long time. And again, kind of similar to the same theme, over the years, we've been forced to spend our aeronautics budget on like subsidizing high TRL efforts from big prime contractors. An engine that's 40 years old, they want to squeak 3% more fuel efficiency out of it. Get NASA to pay for it. I'm like, are you kidding? There is no way we are doing that. You can underwrite that investment yourself for competitive reasons. You know what I want to do? I want to get back to the radical airframe and engine designs like we were always supposed to do. And you're getting a little bit of a taste for that on the on the >> Tell us about the importance of having a human on these ships when we go to the moon, when we go to Mars versus if Optimus figure these humanoid robotics are ready. Why would we risk a human life in these incredibly dangerous environments? Is it ego? Is it we're trying to prove a point to have humans in the loop on these is or should we just be sending robots >> or it's our it's our destiny, right? I mean the same reason why we we cross the oceans and seas and climb the mountains.

30:28 This is who we are. Would have many people stopped pause from the the discourse of our our daily lives to look at those astronauts go around the moon on Artemis 2 if they weren't humans. I I don't think so. Now don't get me wrong, we are going to need robotics and there are some environments that just whether it's the radiation that we can only do uncrrewed you know robotic missions but we can we can go to the moon as we've done before with our astronauts, we can go to Mars and we can continue on outward and robotics will absolutely play a critical role in that journey.

31:01 >> What about then just like the autonomous navigation systems you talked about fly by wire? I mean, we still see even just like last week the the incident with Amazon Air. Now, this is civil aviation, but the overrun is ridiculous. That that that error mode was pretty shocking to to people, I think. how do we push better and safer technologies and the more obvious solutions, even if that may actually disintermediate human involvement? >> Well, I'll just say that NASA's been playing a role with air traffic safety and modernization for a long time. It was NASA that pioneered the autonomous ground collision avoidance software. So I mean it's saved I mean countless lives of fighter pilots pull too many G's, they black out the point the nose of the aircraft's point at the ground, the aircraft recognizes it and and safely recovers it. That was NASA work. but I will I mean to to your point and we are obviously very involved as you think about a world that's going to have who knows like millions of drones flying around delivering us medicine and other things like we we have to work very closely with the FAA on that. But I will tell you we are thinking about you know AI and autonomous applications within the missions we're designing right now like one mission going to Venus Da Vinci it will not last long in that high pressure environment right we are going to only have so much time to gather as much information as we can to update you know kind of the trajectory of the vehicle this is not interesting disregard this is interesting I'm turning in that direction we've already tested this with some of our rovers on Mars and I in my last dying breath this is what I choose to send back you know to the scientists on Earth to understand this this environment and that's just one step towards a direction that will inevitably include more autonomy in our in our crude and uncrude spacecraft and how do you think about allocation of capital resources Jared to some of the scientific discovery the the observational systems future platforms for observational for deep space research is there a view in your mind it should be a 5% of budget like how do you think about rationalizing where we go with the spend there.

33:05 >> Yeah, I I mean I would say right now science is approximately call it a third of of NASA's budget. We recently reorganized but your main mission directorates right now are human space exploration which covers both the great work we're doing in the international space station as well as missions to example moon and building a moon base. You have your research technology mission directorate which is shouldering most of the nuclear NASA effort. and then you have your science mission directorate. And how I think about this is like you have to take advantage of commercial industry right now. Like again there's no one would doubt that launch observation communications are real services where NASA is one customer of many. You've got all these great companies that are printing out satellites again for Earth observation whether it's for national security reasons you know or otherwise like leverage it for agriculture le level it leverage it for earth sciences give them the instruments if necessary license it to them free up resources to do what industry is not going to want to take on which is building a nuclearpowered octicopter to go to Saturn's moon of Titan so free up as much resource we can to do that and I would always prioritize getting new missions out there to unlock the secrets of the universe there versus the the researchers if we get the data There'll be plenty of brilliant people at institutions around the country that will want to analyze it, but what's the point if you can't launch those next missions?

34:15 >> And as we wrap up, can we watch the video of the helicopters on Mars and can you just tell us about the timelines to this becoming reality for >> Oh, absolutely. >> Yeah. >> So, here it is coming in. There it is. >> Yeah. I mean, how cool is how cool is this? >> I mean, I'm telling you, you can't do this at HUD >> or IRS. Imagine IRS putting out a video. I only made the Irish joke cuz I know >> here's the auditor.

34:40 >> I mean, it is it is really incredible. >> So, what's this what's the status of this this program? >> So, we tested one Ingenuity on our our last rover mission to Mars. It did fantastically well. I mean, can you imagine this is near vacuum by the way on Mars, >> right? It's like a 10th atmosphere, right? >> You know, fractional that are that are flying around. Now, we're going to send three of these with ground penetrating radars, which I think is just awesome. But most importantly, how it got there. It got there under nuclear power. A true fisionpowered 100 kilowatt spacecraft that flew by Mars and released it. This will launch in 28.

35:13 we believe the it's it's approximately a year before the the helicopters will get there. We're still doing some some trades, but an absolutely extraordinary mission and the start of many more. I mean, again, think about it. There is so much we can learn on the moons within our own solar system. Some really shocking discoveries are just waiting for us in our own backyard. >> Are you going to test pilot the blackbird? That's not the blackbird. We have a lot of talented folks.

35:36 >> Hey Jared, you you mentioned China, >> all levels of the organization. >> Exactly. All of the or including the head of the organization is quitear quite a pilot. I >> I know we got a wrap, but you mentioned China and Russia collaborating together. Just wanted to double click on that. >> What are their capabilities? Russia can't even take Keev. and like they've been out of war for four years. Are they capable of getting to space and doing anything of material? I and I mean this genuinely in a very >> please come back >> but then China is copying a lot of what you don't have to listen to Chimath.

36:12 this is a serious question. China is copying a lot of what Elon's doing in real time. >> Yes. And what's their actual capability if we assume Russia is up against it and they're broke? And am I correct that Russia's up against it and they're broke? I would just say I mean look obviously have a great appreciation for the history of the the Russian and Soviet space program. I mean like I said in my remarks they came out of the gate hot first you know astronaut in orbit first spacew walk they've done a lot of great things and they contribute to us contribute with us today and collaborate on the international space station but yes they have a conflict and they're prioritizing resources there. The Chinese are an incredible rival in space right now. Yes they don't have the same reusable launch capabilities that SpaceX and others have. what they do put in space, even if they brute force it there with hypergal powered thrusters or hypergall powered rockets akin to like Titan 2 of decades past, what goes in space is good. And I think there were some pretty interesting developments that came out of AFA today that our secretary of air force and others in the space force said that enlightened I think the general public about how contested that environment is. The bottom line is the Chinese are extremely good in space right now. You couple that with some Russian capabilities on nuclear power, they will return to the moon and they will get to the moon and they will build a base on the south pole.

37:27 >> And where would we be if we didn't have SpaceX in relation to China? >> I mean, SpaceX is our are I mean, they're they're incredible. I mean, they're our most important launch partner. We can't send astronauts to and from the space station without them. We can't have down mass of our science experiments from the space station without them. The the the Nancy Grace Roman telescope that's going out to pursue the secrets of the m of the universe was launched on a Falcon Heavy not that long ago. We are fortunate.

37:50 There's a lot of great companies in commercial space right now, but I mean the United States would be seriously challenged in the in the high ground of space without their capabilities. Jared, I'm not a huge fan of government. but I think NASA plays one of the most important roles for humanity that no individual organization outside of government can play. I cannot think of a better person to lead it. I think you're an inspiration to so many. Absolutely.

38:14 And I I truly honestly respect your service that that you've provided to this country and to the world. We're so lucky to have you. Thank you for being here. >> Oh, grateful every day. Thank you all. Thank you. Don't forget your book. Yeah. Thanks. >> Thanks for coming. >> Thanks, man. Thank you. Appreciate